Thrift edition by Phil Church Literature Fiction eBooks
Download As PDF : Thrift edition by Phil Church Literature Fiction eBooks 
A failing secondary school, a selection of confused teenagers, a play doomed for disaster and a distinctly below average teacher.
Being a successful teacher is difficult, especially when you are not overly keen on doing any work.
Still, the narrator of Thrift is undeterred as he lies and cheats his way through the Christmas term, hoping that he can save his career, and perhaps even earn himself a thoroughly undeserved promotion.
Thrift edition by Phil Church Literature Fiction eBooks
What happens when a preposterously lazy English teacher gets picked to direct the school play? Absolutely nothing. Thrift by Phil Church chronicles the semi-comical encounters of one teacher's attempt to squeak by on minimal effort and false pretense in a school system where apathy is the norm from students, teachers, and administrators alike.The amazing thing about this book is how much effort the narrator puts into being lazy. While the characterization may be excellent on that point, it also serves as the book's downfall. The protagonist spends a lot of time drinking coffee and munching biscuits (cookies to those of us in the United States). He also makes a habit of avoiding conflict with his students to the detriment of classroom discipline. Some motivation is provided for his actions upon learning his father and brother are much more successful than him, and his fun-loving mother has made herself emotionally unavailable. It's natural for readers to want to see an emotional progression from the main character, but the lackadaisical teacher at the heart of this book makes no such journey.
Certain aspects of the plot ring true. Phil Church does an outstanding job capturing the inanity of classroom discussions that often go awry. But just when the reader thinks the man doesn't have a clue, hints are given that he has developed the awareness to read students' body language and he comes up with an interactive pre-reading assignment for Lord of the Flies. As a fellow educator, I could definitely relate to the notion that some of the most ineffective teachers are often the ones picked for promotion due factors that have little to do with being committed to education.
Other aspects of the plot are seemingly random, yet related to establishing the aimlessness of the main character, not to mention the roommate's seemingly random departure toward the end. His inability to ward off a potential love interest is in keeping with his passive personality, and the landlady at the local pub also finds him attractive (in a creepy way). Despite all that lady love, his character never comes across as particularly handsome or charismatic. A brief stint as a private investigator, bachelor party supervisor, and best man at his brother's wedding had the potential to deepen the plot, but unfortunately did not circle back to fully shedding light into why he's such a lazy bum.
A minor character named Rab added a delightful literary depth to the story since he acted as the voice of public opinion toward teachers. In true passive fashion the narrator never stands up for himself or his profession, which isn't surprising, but utterly a let-down for the story. The desire to want to be successful is inherent in all of us, but along the way that drive often gets distorted in the most heartbreaking ways.
A sequel appears to be in the works and it is my hope that the author can do more to justify his protagonist's sluggish propensities in addition to clarifying what exactly it is that the character wants, even if that want is truly just to skate by.
[...]
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Thrift edition by Phil Church Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews
The only thing I don't like about this book is the cover design, but as my copy is on kindle, that doesn't matter a bit. This teacher is all too believable (assuming we are talking about fiction here, and not pretending it is a documentary!) There are many people in the wrong jobs, who take the line of least resistance. Here we have a school full of them, teachers and kids alike. I never laughed aloud reading this, but I smiled all the way through. I liked the way the author used the ungrammatical 'we were sat drinking tea' as it shows that we are, I think, in the north of England where that is common usage, and also that the narrator of the book appears to have gone through teacher training without ever learning more standard grammar!
I felt Angela could have appeared more often, to be more scary. I was not as relieved at her exit from the book as the hero was.
I also would have liked a better reason for our hero to opt out of attending the rehearsals entirely, and one to explain why the Head could think that getting a class of nincompoops to do Shakespeare under the direction of a poor teacher was going to be impressive!
But in the genre of "In one bound our hero was free" literature, I really enjoyed this story, and will buy its sequel. I want to know what happens next.
"To be or like not to be."
There are plenty of stories about great fictional teachers, from Mr. Chips to Albus Dumbledore; inspiring tales of educators who work tirelessly to pass their knowledge on to their bright, young, eager students.
This is not one of those stories.
Here's a tale about a bored and burned-out teacher who does little to inspire his apathetic students. True, he derives little inspiration from the students themselves. They'd rather be listening to music, texting and eating sweets than listening to Victorian poetry and learning about Shakespeare.
"If Shakespeare is so great, why is he dead?" asks one girl.
And the school administration provides no support. They're only interested in looking good in the newspaper and in front of visiting inspectors. In fact, the Headmaster firmly believes that Hamlet is a comedy.
The best strategy seems to be lie low, don't attract attention to yourself and do as little work as possible.
The teacher in this book tries to do exactly that, yet somehow, he has been pegged to direct this year's school play. He wastes no time putting a student in charge of the production, then skips off to the pub, returning to rehearsals as little as humanly possible. It may be time to pay the piper, however, as the night of the play draws near, and he discovers that the students are planning a performance that's "a lot like Hamlet", only it's an "all-action, musical extravaganza."
In addition to the "coming dramatic fiasco" plot, there are more delights to enjoy, as the teacher (if he had a name, I somehow missed it...) and his flatmate, Malcolm, attempt a variety of money-making schemes. Their stint as a crime-solving duo is particularly memorable, as is the plan to photograph a mythical panther that has been "haunting" the neighborhood.
This book probably isn't for everyone. The humor is dry, black and droll.
I loved it!
If you're a fan of British humor and have a fondness for slackers who want to get ahead with as little work as possible, this title might be right up your alley.
Just...look out for the panther.
What happens when a preposterously lazy English teacher gets picked to direct the school play? Absolutely nothing. Thrift by Phil Church chronicles the semi-comical encounters of one teacher's attempt to squeak by on minimal effort and false pretense in a school system where apathy is the norm from students, teachers, and administrators alike.
The amazing thing about this book is how much effort the narrator puts into being lazy. While the characterization may be excellent on that point, it also serves as the book's downfall. The protagonist spends a lot of time drinking coffee and munching biscuits (cookies to those of us in the United States). He also makes a habit of avoiding conflict with his students to the detriment of classroom discipline. Some motivation is provided for his actions upon learning his father and brother are much more successful than him, and his fun-loving mother has made herself emotionally unavailable. It's natural for readers to want to see an emotional progression from the main character, but the lackadaisical teacher at the heart of this book makes no such journey.
Certain aspects of the plot ring true. Phil Church does an outstanding job capturing the inanity of classroom discussions that often go awry. But just when the reader thinks the man doesn't have a clue, hints are given that he has developed the awareness to read students' body language and he comes up with an interactive pre-reading assignment for Lord of the Flies. As a fellow educator, I could definitely relate to the notion that some of the most ineffective teachers are often the ones picked for promotion due factors that have little to do with being committed to education.
Other aspects of the plot are seemingly random, yet related to establishing the aimlessness of the main character, not to mention the roommate's seemingly random departure toward the end. His inability to ward off a potential love interest is in keeping with his passive personality, and the landlady at the local pub also finds him attractive (in a creepy way). Despite all that lady love, his character never comes across as particularly handsome or charismatic. A brief stint as a private investigator, bachelor party supervisor, and best man at his brother's wedding had the potential to deepen the plot, but unfortunately did not circle back to fully shedding light into why he's such a lazy bum.
A minor character named Rab added a delightful literary depth to the story since he acted as the voice of public opinion toward teachers. In true passive fashion the narrator never stands up for himself or his profession, which isn't surprising, but utterly a let-down for the story. The desire to want to be successful is inherent in all of us, but along the way that drive often gets distorted in the most heartbreaking ways.
A sequel appears to be in the works and it is my hope that the author can do more to justify his protagonist's sluggish propensities in addition to clarifying what exactly it is that the character wants, even if that want is truly just to skate by.
[...]
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